Snapped cable fixed, says Etisalat

DUBAI, UAE: UAE’s telecom operator Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) said that the submarine optical fibre cable disruption in the Mediterranean Sea between the Middle East and Europe has been fixed. The breach had affected Internet connectivity in the region for a fortnight.

‘‘Repairs on the the submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE-4) have been completed and the Internet services have been fully restored. Etisalat has re-routed the internet traffic to the submarine cable (SEA-ME-WE-4) that has now been completely restored,’’ Etisalat said in a statement.

Du also said that the restoration operation on the affected cable is completed.

The breakdown in link between Alexandria in Egypt and Marseilles in France was first reported on April 14 and had resulted in diminished traffic across the region. It was expected to be fixed on April 20, but bad weather purportedly delayed repairs.

This is for the third time in the last two years that a major cable happened over 18,000km-long cable, which is managed by a consortium of 16 global telecom companies, including Etisalat.